Abstract
Maintenance of wild animals in captivity is fraught with numerous challenges, including the control of disease. This study evaluates the effect of season, host demography (age-sex), and differing management systems on the prevalence of intestinal parasites among elephants managed in three captive systems: temple, private, and forest department, in Tamil Nadu. In addition, the study also assessed the availability of veterinary care for elephants in these systems. The parasitic prevalence was evaluated by direct microscopic identification of helminth eggs in faecal samples (n = 115) collected from different age/sex classes of elephants. Of the 115 elephants examined, 37% showed positive results, being infected only with Strongyles sp. The prevalence rate varied significantly across seasons, with the highest rate during summer (49%) followed by monsoon (41%) and the lowest rate during winter (15%). While males had a significantly lower parasite prevalence compared to females (29% vs. 40%), age classes showed no significant difference. Despite the fact that the proportion of animals receiving veterinary care was higher under the forest department system (100%) compared to the private system (26%), parasite prevalence was significantly higher under the former (48%) than the latter (31%) system. The difference in the proportion of animals with parasitic prevalence among the three systems could be due to differing management practices (i.e. in solitary versus groups) and the details are discussed.
Highlights
Most free-living organisms harbour parasites of several species (Begon & Bowers 1995), which can adversely affect host health, fecundity and foraging, and may modify host behaviour to facilitate parasite transmission (Wesenberg-Lund 1931; Holmes & Bethel 1972; Moore 1984)
This study evaluates the effect of season, host demography, and differing management systems on the prevalence of intestinal parasites among elephants managed in three captive systems: temple, private, and forest department, in Tamil Nadu
Asian Elephants Elephas maximus are susceptible to gastrointestinal parasitic infection in the wild (Watve 1995; Dharmarajan 2000; Vidya & Sukumar 2002) and in captivity are often confined to small enclosures and/or maintained in isolation (Vanitha 2007) in damp unhygienic conditions that may result in enhanced susceptibility to parasitic disease (Dhungel et al 1990; Chandrasekaran et al 1995; Suresh et al 2001)
Summary
Most free-living organisms harbour parasites of several species (Begon & Bowers 1995), which can adversely affect host health, fecundity and foraging, and may modify host behaviour to facilitate parasite transmission (Wesenberg-Lund 1931; Holmes & Bethel 1972; Moore 1984). Asian Elephants Elephas maximus are susceptible to gastrointestinal parasitic infection in the wild (Watve 1995; Dharmarajan 2000; Vidya & Sukumar 2002) and in captivity are often confined to small enclosures and/or maintained in isolation (Vanitha 2007) in damp unhygienic conditions that may result in enhanced susceptibility to parasitic disease (Dhungel et al 1990; Chandrasekaran et al 1995; Suresh et al 2001). Intestinal parasites in captive Asian Elephants captive elephants under three different management systems: private, temple and forest department (Vanitha 2007; Vanitha et al 2010). Captive elephants in the Tamil Nadu forest department are managed mostly in semi-wild conditions at forest camps located in Mudumalai and Anamalai wildlife sanctuaries (presently tiger reserves). While originally used for timber logging, captive elephants under the forest department management are presently used predominantly for ecotourism.
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